When Rivalry Turns Ugly: Carson City sheriff urges civility in a tense political year

It’s an energy that’s being felt in nearly every city. Emotions are high. The tension is thick. The weather is getting warmer and patience is wearing thin.

Carson City’s own Class of 2016 meets Carson City Election 2016. Each have arrived with their own idealism, hopes and dreams as well as law breakers and vandals. About the only thing that’s changed are the numerals.

Whether it’s between schools or political candidates, rivalries are a healthy, necessary part of any community, said Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong.

Rivalries rally citizens, stir conversations over coffee, give communities direction, fill up sports stadiums and provide healthy doses of citizenship. Differences get settled with sportsmanship at the ballpark, football field, or at the ballot box.

But given the amount of vandalism that’s happened this spring and the number of complaints that have come across the sheriff’s desk, plus the explosive nature of political discourse nationally, some have locally let their emotions attached to their rivalries get out of hand. They’re committing acts of vandalism, targeting each other — not out of rivalry but hate, said Furlong.

Given the volatility of this political season, Furlong is asking the entire community to step up, be responsible, civil and not follow the lead of other cities that are now dealing with violence and politics.

“Why is this year different than any other year?” Furlong rhetorically asks. “It isn’t. These things have happened before and are happening now.”

Furlong said he hopes Carson City will continue to buck the trends, and not become destructive as other cities around the country, where tensions and rivalries have turned to violence.

“What do we hold over other communities? Carson City tends to be more of a respectful environment to tolerate other people’s opinions,” he said. “As a state capital we see protests all the time and they are not violent. We see demonstrations on our front lawns, and they are not violent. Carson City tends to be very respectful of other people.”

He notes that juvenile related vandalism usually happens at the end of the school year. While some of it may be considered harmless — such as the changing of C Hill, surreptitiously done annually by a few members of a graduating class — there are instances of more serious offenses, such as what happened this weekend at the Carson High School. The athletic fields were spray painted, vandalized and thought to be done by CHS rival Douglas High, though there’s been no proof one way or the other.

“It’s a case of where they (the perpetrators) took it too far and they did it when we weren’t looking,” said Furlong.

After the long Memorial Day weekend, more than 100 students and staff members from both Carson High and Douglas High arrived at the football fields after school Tuesday to clean up the graffiti. Many parents from both communities came, too.

Whether it’s school graffiti or campaign sign vandalism, Furlong said the Carson City Sheriff’s Office needs the public to help be the eyes and ears in the community.

“Damaging school property is not a rivalry, it is vandalism and against the law. Depending on the level of vandalism it could land you in jail for a year, and vandalism, in worse cases, can land you in prison,” he said.

Defacing political signs is also vandalism and also against the law. Political candidate campaign signs in town have been vandalized, spray painted and torn up. A downtown antique store window with political signage was shot out. In each case, victims are pointing fingers, but haven’t come up with any evidence to prosecute the perpetrators.

“If you choose to steal a sign or deface a sign, you can go to jail for that. Defacing political signs is not freedom of speech, it is vandalism,” he said.

With nearly 100 officers and 50,000 residents, Furlong said the sheriff’s office needs the help of the community to put an end to vandalism, whether it’s school based, gang-related or political.

“If you see it, if you hear it, report it. Help us be the eyes and ears as we search for those offenders,” he said. “If you know of someone who is defacing property, taking property, or otherwise damaging property, feel free to report it, anonymously if you want, and we will investigate.”